Vernon's Bradley Hladik, who scored two touchdowns in his Panthers' win over Hugh Boyd, celebrates a berth in the Subway Bowl final Saturday at B.C. Place.Gerry Kahrmann / PNG

The Subway Bowl B.C. high school double-A football championship game this coming Saturday has guaranteed itself of a historic milestone finish.

Will the Vernon Panthers become the first up-country school to win a senior varsity football championship in 26 years?

Or will Jerry Mulliss, the head coach of North Delta’s Seaquam Seahawks, bring a championship trophy to his school in the final game of his 49-year coaching career?

Those were the plotlines put into play on Saturday as Vernon beat Richmond’s Hugh Boyd Trojans 21-7 in the first of two semifinal games at B.C. Place Stadium, followed by Seaquam’s 26-7 victory over Chilliwack’s G.W. Graham Grizzlies in the other.

Vernon’s victory, in fact, has proven to be historic even in advance of the title game.

The No. 1-ranked Panthers, waiving the flag for every up-country football team in the province, became the first team outside the Fraser Valley, Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island regions to qualify for a B.C. senior varsity football final in over two decades.

Kamloops’ Norkam Saints last pulled the feat when they qualified for the 1995 B.C. double-A final, losing 38-12 to North Vancouver’s Windsor Dukes.

The last up-country team to win the B.C. title were the Kamloops Secondary Red Devils, who beat all comers — including the Centennial Centaurs, 36-8, in the 1990 triple-A title game.

“I didn’t know my history, but I do know that we’ve been battling hard for this a long time,” said Vernon head coach Sean Smith, who was battling just as hard to hold back his tears.

“Our kids have so much grit because that was a heck of a football team that we just beat there. They are big, they are strong and they are fast. We made just enough offensive plays to get it done.”

They also made a huge one on defence.

Leading 14-7, but having had back-to-back field goals blocked by the Trojans, Vernon’s Charles Lemay deflected a pass thrown out of the end zone by Hugh Boyd quarterback Tyler Moxin, which went right into the hands of teammate Bradley Hladik, who took it 15 yards into the end zone to round out the scoring with 38 seconds left in the third quarter.

“It was unreal,” said Hladik, who had also caught an eight-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Thomas Hyett to open the scoring.

“I was just saying to me ‘Come on Charles, tip it’ and he did.”

Hyett had also tossed a nine-yard scoring strike to Bradley’s older brother Ben Hladik, to give Vernon a 14-0 lead.

Vernon’s Ben Hladik hauls in a pass despite pressure from the Hugh Boyd Trojans in the double-A semifinal at B.C. Place on Saturday.Gerry Kahrmann /
PNG

The Trojans were able to cut the lead in half with 5:25 remaining in the first half when Moxin scored on a third-down one-yard sneak.

Hugh Boyd was later unable to convert on a fourth-and-goal from the Vernon 14-yard line with nine seconds left in the first half.

Meanwhile, Seaquam used its speed and big plays on the ground and through the air to build a 20-0 halftime lead en route to their victory.

“And I can’t say enough about the way our quarterback Josh Haydu played today.”

Seaquam took a 6-0 lead, opening the scoring on a three-yard run by Haydu, set up by a 40-yard Jalen Philpot run.

Haydu then hit receiver Terrell Kinch in full stride for an 80-yard catch-and-run score and a 12-0 lead.

Just 35 seconds before halftime, Haydu threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Philpot, and a two-point convert made it 20-0.

“I’m so proud of our whole team and the way we have all worked so hard,” said Haydu.”It’s really amazing how many tools we have to get the ball around the field.”

The two teams took turns handing the ball back to each other to open the second half before the Grizzlies mounted an extended drive, but came up short on a fourth-down pass from the Seaquam six-yard line.

On the very next play, Haydu’s 38-yard completion to Kinch to moved the ball to their own 44-yard line and not too soon after, Seaquam cashed in on fourth-and-goal with a two-yard Jalen Philpot run for a 26-0 lead with 20 seconds left in the third quarter.

The Grizzlies didn’t break their offensive silence until early in fourth quarter when quarterback Gabe Olivares found his way into the end zone from a yard out make the score 26-7.

With 4:41 remaining, Tyson Philpot put the game out of reach with an interception.

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